There’s A Greenhouse In Your Future - Part II

In Part I we looked at some of the plants grown in a home greenhouse along with placement and air movement… now let’s dig a little deeper ad discuss inside the greenhouse and even some greenhouse pest control.

Walks of cement are fine, but the cement should not cover the entire floor. Pea gravel make a clean and neat looking material to put under the benches, and it can be kept moist to provide humidity. Flagstones set about an inch above the soil line make a good walk. When the walk is above the soil, it can be washed off and no water puddles will stand to mess up your shoes.

If your benches are made of wood, be sure that this is treated with a wood preservative. Properly treated redwood, cypress, or metal concrete are your best bets for bench material that will prove lasting.

A stair-step arrangement of benches provides more space, but should not shade the plants. Orchids like screen or slats to give free air circulation.

Electric lighting and outlets will add pleasure to your greenhouse gardening. You can work later in the evenings and earlier during dark winter mornings. When friends stop by to see the crop of blooms on the camellia, you won’t pave to drag it into the living room, or peer at them with a flashlight. This wiring should be done by an electrician so that the job will pass city inspection.

Electricity can mean more space in your greenhouse. Fluorescent light units may be installed under the benches to almost double growing space. These lights cost little to install and to maintain. If this space is too cool, a heating cable can be used.

If you wish to specialize in a favorite plant, and will not be growing others, the temperature in your greenhouse will be set. You’ll run it to suit your pet. Most people look forward to a profusion and succession of bloom from many plants during most of the year. The cool greenhouse has a night time temperature range of 45 to 50 degrees, the moderate to warm greenhouse 55 to 70 degrees.

In addition, you will want to buy at least one complete book on greenhouse gardening. Every publisher of gardening books has at least one title in this category. If you have special hobby plants, membership in the society for fanciers of that plant will be worthwhile, and will lead you to many new friends. Special societies, each with interesting publications, exist for growers of African violets, gloxinias, begonias, bromeliads, cacti and succulents, amaryllis, camellias and geraniums, to name a few.

If you wish to grow many plants that are very different in temperature requirements, a two section greenhouse may be practical. That is, a dividing wall of glass is placed to divide two sections of your greenhouse. This is quite an asset, especially when bulbous plants are forced. Tulips, daffodils, and amaryllis may be forced quickly in the warm part, then moved to where it is cool, once the blossoms open, to keep them fresh longer.

Keep your greenhouse in good repair. Repainting will be necessary every two or three years for outside, and every four or five inside - perhaps more often. Greenhouses are subject to much more humidity than most buildings, and it is imperative that a paint of high quality be used. Do not throw dirty or broken pots under the benches, or leave them sitting on the walk. They are unattractive, they harbor pests, and they take up valuable space that could be used for plants.

Put dead leaves and trimmings in the trash - don’t lay them in the benches to decay and collect bugs. The moment you bring in new plants, inspect them thoroughly for pests. If you find a bug, spray immediately, and isolate the plant until you are sure it is clean. When you do spot trouble, work on it with full force until you have it whipped. One tiny infestation of mealy bugs can drag on for months - even years - if spraying is not done regularly until all of them are killed.

Soil Is Important

The key to your success with a greenhouse may lie in the kind of soil mixtures you use for potting and for the benches. Compost is invaluable to success. For potting you will need an ample supply of coarse, horticultural peat moss, vermiculite in the fine and coarse sizes, plenty of leaf mold, clean sharp sand, sphagnum moss, and good garden loam. Bone and blood meal are useful in making potting mixtures. A counter height potting bench is handy. Its proper work height with good light, plenty of labels, pots, flats and soil close at hand will encourage you to do a “perfect” job of potting and transplanting.

Drafts are harmful, and fluctuating temperatures should be avoided. The smaller your greenhouse, the faster temperatures will change. At least one prefab greenhouse is available that is constructed so as to be a “greenhouse within a greenhouse.” That is, two layers of glass cover the structure. The dead air space between the two layers of glass saves greatly on the heating bill. You can create this dead air space on an existing house by the use of clear polyethylene plastic tacked on the inside of the frame.

Overcrowding is a common fault of gardeners, and in the greenhouse as outdoors, it results in poor air circulation and this will cause mildew, leggy plants and other maladies. Watering early in the day allows for water to dry before cool night time temperatures prevail and helps to prevent rot troubles.

Gloxinia tubers and started seedlings are available during all of October. These plants will begin to bloom in January or February. A planting of snapdragons, sweet peas, pansies, calendulas, and other annuals will give bloom in the cool greenhouse. I have a ground bed in my warm greenhouse that is cool enough to grow snapdragons, calendulas and pansies to perfection.

Geraniums offer unlimited opportunity. Rooted cuttings available in October will be set for blooms all winter long, starting right after Christmas. There are hundreds of different and unusual begonias that will give color and interest every month of the year. If your hobby is to be orchids, you have an unlimited and unending field of exploration.

by E McDonald

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